Re: '63 Buzzer Tach - When?

[Douglas Cline]

Hi,

I haven't purchased the latest Juddging Manual for '63 yet, but I was wondering what the current accepted date/VIN for which the buzzer tach was last used on '63 340 HP cars?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

--Doug, #13644

[Tracy C.]

No Buzzer tachs offered for 63. *NM*

[Duke W.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

Yes, there were buzzer tachs on L-76 and L-84, but only up to about sequence number 5000 IIRC. Chevrolet's marketing information said only FI engines had buzzer tachs, but L-76 also had them. Noland Adams book has an extensive discussion along with survey results.

Duke

[Douglas Cline]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

Duke,

Thanks for the information. I have a late Dec. '62 convt. (S.N. approx. 5400) 340 hp. The original tach was broken and replaced. I have an original buzzer tach, and am trying to decide to have it re-built or simply keep the non-buzzer.

--Doug, # 13644

[Michael H.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

Doug,

Your car definitely would have had the buzzer tach. Not sure about the buzzer and wiring though. Car #5415 definitely has the original buzzer tach. At the start of production, solid lifter engine cars had the special tach AND the buzzer with the short wiring harness. At some point in production, the buzzer tach was dropped but the remaining tachometer heads were used for several months without the buzzer.

There is a definite difference in the face of the two different tachometers. The buzzer tach redline was red/maroon while the later non buzzer tach had a yellow/red warning zone.

If I remember correctly, you can tell if your car actually had the buzzer unit by inspecting the "Z" bar behind the radio. Early cars that had the buzzer would have a hole drilled in the top surface of the bar to mount the buzzer and later non buzzer cars would not.

[Mike M.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

mike has it down correctly. i restored an early dec 62 built 63 FI. it had the tack and buzzer but no wiring harness. making up the harness was simple. problem with the buzzer: it's noise wasn't loud enough to hear as the 360 horses got over 4000 RPM. i sold the car(to buy the big tank ZO6 in the early 90's) and don't have the vin # but it was an early december car. mike

[Mike M.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

TC: put yer helmet on and get in the game. mikie

[Tracy C.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

Well shut my mouth...

Couldn't find any discussion on this in the JG.

[Mike M.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

run it by the augusta midget.

[Duke W.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

Since the '63 was the first year of production for a new design, there were literally hundreds of running changes - some that can be visually identified and some that can't, and the JG doesn't cover everything.

Even a PV cannot verify a buzzer tach because the maximum rev requirement is below the 6500 redline where the buzzer is activated.

I've never "heard" a '63 buzzer tach, but years ago a friend's '79 RX-7 had buzzer that sounded at the redline. It was pretty lame!

Duke

[Michael H.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

Probably on the same page as the correct hardtop info for 63.

[Mike M.]

Re: No Buzzer tachs offered for 63.

i heard my buzzer but only by bench testing it with a drill motor. even then, the buzz wasn't as good as some i've had with the beast on board. mikie

[Loren L.]

10 or 15 years ago, I provided the then

63-4 Team leader a copy of a letter dated February 11, 1963 from the "Central Office" to "Regional Service Engineers", "Regional Service Managers", and "Field Service Engineers". The first sentence of that letter reads:

"The high-speed warning buzzer featured on 340 and 360 HP

models to warn the driver that the engine is in the maxium high-speed

range is being deleted, because it is not audible under extreme high-

speed operation.".

The letter was signed by an H.A. Bangsberg of the Technical Service Department.

[Michael H.]

Re: 10 or 15 years ago, I provided the then

Thanks Loren. Seems like I vaguely remember something about that letter or some other GM doc's that basically say the same thing. I think the actual buzzer/harness was eliminated at least several weeks before the 11 Feb date of the letter, while the buzzer tach continued foe several weeks after that date.

Interesting that no one has commented on my previous post about the very obvious color change between the buzzer tach and the later non buzzer tach.

[Mike M.]

Re: 10 or 15 years ago, I provided the then

mike: i didn't notice the differnce you mention when i restored the cluster years ago. don't know whereabouts of the old coupe today. mike